Arkansas Children’s Hospital gets $1M for burn unit LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Children’s Hospital announced Tuesday it has accepted a $1 million donation benefiting its burn center from the parents of a 14-year-old girl who died after more than two weeks of treatment following a fiery 1999 plane crash in Little Rock. Hospital officials said the gift, which will establish an endowed chairmanship, will help the center recruit a new director. The money will also help advance the center’s operati...

Beebe signs ’private option’ plan into lawLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday signed into law a plan to use federal Medicaid money to purchase private insurance for thousands of low-income workers, and state officials said they will now work to get final federal approval for the proposal. The Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders both touted the “private option” as an alternative to expanding Medicaid’s enrollment under the federal health care law. ...

Arkansas Legislature wraps up 100-day session LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Legislature on Tuesday wrapped up its first session since Reconstruction in which Republicans have controlled both chambers by giving final approval to the state’s $4.9 billion budget plan for the coming fiscal year. The House and Senate quickly approved identical versions of the proposed Revenue Stabilization Act, which sets spending priorities based on expected revenues, before recessing until May 17 to formal...

Novices, veterans take in of chicken-raising tips ROLAND (AP) — Noted gardener and television personality P. Allen Smith invited experienced and would-be poultry farmers to his Little Rock-area farm Saturday, hoping to help overcome a lack of connection between urban and farming areas. “There is a gap between those that had an agricultural connection (in their families) and those who hadn’t,” Smith said. “I think (there is) a longing that’s in the culture.” Smith has a reputation among poultr...

2 Kensett officers accused of stealing pet deer KENSETT (AP) — Court records show two suspended police officers in Kensett are accused of stealing someone’s pet deer. Authorities were initially tight-lipped about the allegations against Sgt. Debra Bailey and Officer Derek Balentine. The Daily Citizen obtained details of the criminal charges through a Freedom of Information Act request. Bailey is charged with theft of lost property, conspiracy and solicitation. Balentine is charged with cons...

Analysis: Private option lingers as issue LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The approval of the “private option” that Arkansas is pursuing to expand health insurance in the state doesn’t end the debate over an idea that supporters have touted as an innovative way to reform Medicaid and opponents have blasted as no different from “Obamacare.” It’s merely a preview of the fights yet to come. As lawmakers prepare to wrap up a legislative session highlighted by a very public split within the new Republi...

Arkansas turns to different lethal injection drug LITTLE ROCK (AP) — After surrendering its supply of a lethal injection drug to federal agents in 2011, Arkansas turned to a somewhat surprising place to look for another drug: a list from lawyers for several death row inmates. The state Department of Correction told The Associated Press last week that it decided to use phenobarbital after attorneys for several death row inmates mentioned in a lawsuit that it might be an available drug. Phenoba...

Game and Fish commission approves '13 hunting seasons LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has scheduled the dates for this fall's deer hunting season. The commission approved the dates at its monthly meeting Thursday. Modern gun deer season will open Nov. 9, and the end date varies by hunting zone. Archery season opens Sept. 28 and will run through Feb. 28, 2014, for all zones in the state. Muzzleloader season will open Oct. 19. The commission also approved some changes...

2 researchers awarded $1.3M NIH grant LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Two researchers at the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute have received a $1.3 million grant to student how children's immune systems are affected by a common pollutant. The National Institutes of Health awarded the four-year grant to Kathleen Gilbert and Sarah Blossom. The researchers are studying how chronic low exposure to trichloroethylene, known as TCE, may contribute to diseases like diabetes, lupus ...

Pryor joins Republicans to oppose gun control bill LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor is among a handful of Democrats who joined Republicans to vote down new gun control legislation. The Senate voted 54-46 on Wednesday on a measure that would expand background checks for gun buyers. The legislation needed 60 votes to advance. Forty-one Republicans and five Democrats, including Pryor, voted no. Other Democrats who joined Republicans in opposing the plan were Sens. Mark Begich of ...

Tyson Foods gives 27K lbs. of food to pantry LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Tyson Foods has donated more than 27,000 pounds of chicken to the Arkansas Rice Depot. The donation to the statewide food bank arrived Wednesday. Arkansas Rice Depot President and CEO Laura Rhea says the donation is essential to help the food bank support dozens of pantries and thousands of people in every Arkansas county. She says the group distributes 9 million pounds of food each year. Tyson Foods officials say meat...

Immigrant group praises US Senate bill SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) - An immigrant advocacy group in Arkansas is praising a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate that would provide a path to citizenship. Members of the Arkansas United Community Coalition said Wednesday the bill takes an "historic step toward humane policy reform." Group director Mireya Reith said in a news conference in Springdale that if the bill passes it could open citizenship to 11 million people. The immigrant advocacy ...

More than 220 live animals caught at oil spill MAYFLOWER, Ark. (AP) - The state Game and Fish Commission says more than 220 live animals have been captured at the site of a ruptured ExxonMobil crude oil pipeline in central Arkansas. The agency said Wednesday that the animals caught at the spill site at Mayflower have been taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Some of the animals have been returned to the wild. Volunteers have helped scrub the oil off birds, mammals and turtles rescued...

Ex-US Rep. Mike Ross joins governor's race PRESCOTT, Ark. (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross announced Wednesday he's running for Arkansas governor, criticizing the Republican-led Legislature for enacting some of the strictest abortion bans in the nation and defending his record on women's issues as he faces a potentially bitter fight for the Democratic nomination next year. Kicking off a statewide announcement tour in his hometown of Prescott, Ross formally joined a race that he had ru...

Ex-lawmaker Hallum to be sentenced in election case LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A former east Arkansas legislator convicted of conspiracy to commit election fraud is to be sentenced this summer. A federal judge filed paperwork Wednesday saying former Democratic Rep. Hudson Hallum is scheduled for sentencing June 20 in Little Rock. His father, Kent, Hallum, is to be sentenced during a separate hearing that same day. Two others involved in the case are to be sentenced next month. Hallum pleaded guil...

Bill to cut Planned Parenthood funding stalls LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A bill aimed at cutting off state funding for two Planned Parenthood grants for sex education narrowly failed to clear an Arkansas House committee. The Public Health Committee on Wednesday voted 10-8 in favor the measure, but it needed 11 votes in the 20-member panel to advance. The Senate passed the bill on April 9. Supporters say the bill is aimed primarily at cutting off grants that Planned Parenthood receives for s...

Lawsuit filed to block new abortion lawLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Abortion rights proponents filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to block Arkansas' new abortion law, which is among the most restrictive in the nation. The legal challenge, filed on behalf of two doctors who provide abortions at a Little Rock clinic, argues that Arkansas' ban on most abortions from the 12th week of pregnancy onward is unconstitutional. It seeks to block the law from taking effect this summer and also asks t...

Legislature approves steel mill funding LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas is set to provide a new steel company with $125 million in financing and a package of tax breaks to build a mill in the northeast part of the state after the Legislature gave final approval to the plan on Tuesday. By an 81-9 vote, House lawmakers passed a Senate-approved budget bill to fund Gov. Mike Beebe's proposal to provide Big River Steel with a loan and pay some construction costs of a $1.1 billion steel...

House passes 'private-option' Medicaid funds LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Arkansas House on Tuesday approved a plan to use federal Medicaid funds to buy private insurance for low-income residents, with many Republicans saying the approach is the best way to maintain some control over provisions of a new federal health care law they still oppose. The private-option plan was presented to legislators in two parts, with one part including language authorizing the plan and a second part setti...